RAIDERS held up a supermarket and put a gun to a 16-year-old checkout boy's head.

RAIDERS held up a supermarket and put a gun to a 16-year-old checkout boy's head.

Two men in search of cash targeted Kwik Save on Ince Lane, Elton.

One of them held a black revolver to the young man's head and demanded he open the till.

The terrified teenager panicked and was unable to do as he was told, so the robbers fled empty-handed.

A teenager and a man wearing a helmet rode up to the doors of the store on a motorbike at 12.45pm on Wednesday.

The older offender, wearing the helmet, ran through the store while his accomplice manned the door. He went into the office at the back of the store but on finding it empty, he sprinted back to the checkouts.

He homed in on the cigarette kiosk where the 16-year-old was working and produced the firearm.

A Kwik Save spokesman said: 'The lad panicked and couldn't work the till. In turn the robber panicked and then ran out of the store.'

The pair escaped on a red and white trials motorcycle which had been stolen from Bootle on October 8. The vehicle was later found abandoned on Old Hall Lane, Ince.

The spokesman added: 'The 16-year-old is all right, although he was very shaken after his ordeal. We have told him to take a few days off to recover.

'It was lunchtime, so the supermarket was fairly busy and there were customers around, but fortunately no one was hurt.

Cheshire Constabulary spokesman Ivor Lewis said: 'We are now looking for the offenders. We believe one of them is a 27 to 30-year-old man and the other is younger, aged between 17 and 18.'

It is believed the two men may have visited the store before to look round and map out their plan.

The man with the revolver was around 5ft 10ins tall, he was slightly overweight with broad shoulders. He had a full-faced helmet on with red markings. He was wearing a waist-length black padded leather jacket with green cuffs.

The younger man who held the doors was wearing a light grey hooded top which was pulled tightly around his face so that only his eyes were showing.

Kwik Save have now taken steps to tighten security at the store.

Their spokesman added: 'Already we have increased security measures. Today we installed CCTV cameras and we have appointed a full time security guard to the store.